Hotel Lodging: Nixon's Tourism Cut Will Cost Jobs

The Department of Economic Development is cutting the division's budget by 35 percent.

"When Governor Nixon announced he was asking state agencies to trim their budgets last week, Missouri's travel industry had no idea that DED would take $7 million of its $11.3 cut from the Division of Tourism, ordering most other departmental agencies to trim only 10 percent or less. The proposal by DED is tantamount to placing a lesser value on tourism, an industry that has significantly propped up the state's economy during these lean times," Ramona Mormann, executive director of the Missouri Hotel Lodging Association, told The Notebook.

The Governor's office has said tourism had a $4.5 million dollar balance to use left over from last year. But the tourism director disputes that calculation.

"For every $1 invested by the state in marketing tourism, Missouri's economy sees a return of $48.13. A cut of this size will be felt by travel-related businesses in both metropolitan and rural parts of the state," said Mormann. "Missouri's hotel industry stands behind its projected job loss figures, noting that a cut of this magnitude will result in a five point drop in hotel occupancy and a $334 million decline in revenue for Missouri's travel industry. To single out tourism to shoulder the burden of cuts from a DED budget of over $73 million will cost Missouri jobs and visitor-generated tax revenues at a time when the state's economy can least afford it," she said.

1 comment:

Kinder is the Lt. Governor and chairman fo the Tourism Commission. He has even created his own non-profit -- the Tour of Missouri Inc.

He has even used his position of chairman of the tourism commission to get state money -- and is likely behind this Nixon smear.

This is an abuse of power.

So next time you report on this, or Jack Goodman's catering to the Branson tourism industry (campaign disclosure forms filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission show Goodman received at least $10,550 from Branson interests during the special election in which he succeeded the late Larry Gene Taylor). Maybe you should lay off the Republican PR Machine and run a real story, Dave.